TTC: Other Items (catch all)

[steveintoronto]

Personally I prefer railway blasting caps. What better way to prevent a collision than to derail a train with a small explosive charge.

lol...The Great Train Robbery. In the event, with modern train control systems, like the very ones Ross claims necessitate the full-width cab, the train could be brought to a swift but safe stop, and the third rail section also isolated.

A 16-year-old named Keron Thomas made motorman history in 1993 when he took an A train on a forbidden ride throughout the city for more than three hours. Thomas planned the stunt for months, and the teenager studied MTA manuals on subway train operations before his urban expedition. Fortunately, no one was hurt during Thomas’ illegal stunt. He was arrested and charged with reckless endangerment, criminal impersonation and forgery and walked away with a nickname: “A Train.”

Read more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/secrets-new-york-city-subway-180958683/#PTFiRz4fsm4PCoXi.99
Give the gift of Smithsonian magazine for only $12! http://bit.ly/1cGUiGv
Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter

Twenty years after he swiped an A train for a three-hour joyride — which included making all stops for hundreds of passengers along the way — Keron Thomas still doesn't like to brag.
Even though he pulled off the wild heist at just 16 years old.
"I never did it for fame," Thomas told the Daily News. "It's not something that I'm proud of, but I don't want people to get the wrong impression. ... I just wanted to drive a train."
Thomas said his May 8, 1993, stunt stemmed simply from his affinity for subway trains and how they work. He spent months reading books and operating manuals about the city's subways to "learn the tricks of the trade," Thomas said.

He even began practicing by wearing an official blue motorman shirt while loitering on subway station platforms, where he befriended transit worker Regoberto Sabio.
Thomas said he often talked shop with the eight-year veteran motorman, who had no clue he was actually talking to a teenage train buff. But the whole time, Thomas was taking notes — and Sabio's employee number.[...]

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/man-posed-train-operator-reflects-teen-thrill-article-1.1335852

They walk amongst us...

 

[lenaitch]

Personally I prefer railway blasting caps. What better way to prevent a collision than to derail a train with a small explosive charge.

LOL. Interesting and effective - once. In truth, railway torpedoes are just a big bang used to protect track territory and I'm not certain they are even used any more.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Opps!!

From link.

A TTC bus is in rough shape today after getting lodged between the floor and ceiling of a passenger pick-up and drop-off area at Warden Station.

The incident took place around 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday night, according to TTC spokesperson Stuart Green, with two customers on board.

"Fortunately no one on the bus was injured and there was no structural damage to the station," says Green. "As is standard with matters like this, we conduct a review and will take appropriate action once that review has concluded."

One video shot shortly after the incident took place shows vehicular debris hanging from the bus and and lying on the ground behind it.

"I think you're taller than 2.9 metres, but you made her fit" says someone behind the camera in what's being described as an "epic Canadian accent."

Additional clips posted to Facebook show Toronto firefighters surveying the damage while walking around the bus.

"Warden Station, TTC bus tried to drive through the tunnel and got stuck!" sings the person filming those videos in one clip. "Dumb [rhymes with stuck]!"

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=2216094458628026

 

[thettctransitfanatic]

Today, went down to Roncesvalles Carhouse to snap some photos of the construction down there ( don't expect the best quality pictures, these were shot on a iPhone ) :

 

[Richard White]

Opps!!

From link.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=2216094458628026

I wonder if the bus will be written off?

 

[WillTo]

I'm not familiar with Warden station. Was that not a usually bus bay?

 

[Richard White]

I'm not familiar with Warden station. Was that not a usually bus bay?

No. It is the kiss and ride.

The 135, 69 and 68 all turn down an adjacent ramp on St Clair to enter the bays.

My father is an operator out of Birchmount division and has been driving in and out of Warden for 32 years. I mentioned this to him and his best guess is that it was a new driver who confused the kiss and ride with the ramp I mentioned. Instead of calling the division and backing up they likely decided to run the gauntlet and failed.

Usually it is delivery trucks that get wedged but never buses. This happens more often than you may think however it is never as major as this.

 

[rbt]

I'm not familiar with Warden station. Was that not a usually bus bay?

Pickup-dropoff area for private vehicles/taxis evidently as seen on the far left of the below image; bus bays on the right are a bit taller.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.7122...4!1sTudXnx_rnkLThJBee32-RQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192


I hadn't noticed Wardens design gave the hundreds of people dropped off by private vehicle a shorter walk to the train than the thousands (ten thousand?) dropped off by bus.

 

[Richard White]

Pickup-dropoff area for private vehicles/taxis evidently as seen on the far left of the below image; bus bays on the right are a bit taller.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.7122...4!1sTudXnx_rnkLThJBee32-RQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192


I hadn't noticed Wardens design gave the hundreds of people dropped off by private vehicle a shorter walk to the train than the thousands (ten thousand?) dropped off by bus.

It does but much to it's detriment the stairs to the kiss and ride may be part of the bus bay structure. The Warden ave exit surely is as it runs behind the bays.

That being said it may require the full closure of the station during renovations if they want to tear down the bays.

 

[Richard White]

Interesting to note that on Citynews the bus was marked as 16 McCowan. If this is the case the bus was horribly lost. The only way for the 16 to go through the kiss and ride would be deliberately.

The driver (if it was the 16) would have had to miss the turn into the bus entrance and decided to loop via the Kiss and Ride. Essentially they would have knowingly had to enter the kiss and ride by making a left turn that would otherwise not have been made.

Proper procedure if he missed the bus entrance would to call CIS and ask for instructions. They likely would have told him to enter off Warden and do a 3 point turn in the bay. It's safe to say this driver is fired.

 

[smallspy]

My father is an operator out of Birchmount division and has been driving in and out of Warden for 32 years. I mentioned this to him and his best guess is that it was a new driver who confused the kiss and ride with the ramp I mentioned. Instead of calling the division and backing up they likely decided to run the gauntlet and failed.

She had about 6 months on the job, and was based out of Eglinton. Apparently she claimed to have never been to Warden Station, and was having a passenger help guide her.

Usually it is delivery trucks that get wedged but never buses. This happens more often than you may think however it is never as major as this.

This is the second bus in three years to have done this. And it has happened before, but only recently - with all of the roof-top appliances, modern buses are taller than older ones.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[ShonTron]

It does but much to it's detriment the stairs to the kiss and ride may be part of the bus bay structure. The Warden ave exit surely is as it runs behind the bays.

That being said it may require the full closure of the station during renovations if they want to tear down the bays.

The bus bays will most certainly be demolished at some point - because of the difficulty of renovating this station for accessibility, it, along with Islington, will be the last to be made fully-accessible (apart from the SRT, which was supposed to be renovated with the LRT conversion and extension, then replaced by subway extension, and is now in indecision limbo).

There will probably be a full weekend closure at some point during demolition to deal with the most easterly section of the overhead mezzanine, but I expect the south lot will be converted to a temporary bus terminal and passengers would take the sidewalk entrance via the PPUDO. Most work can be done with some station functions.

 

[Richard White]

She had about 6 months on the job, and was based out of Eglinton. Apparently she claimed to have never been to Warden Station, and was having a passenger help guide her.

I feel for her.. I do.. but that is likely grounds for dismissal despite ATU 113 being what it is. Drivers are expected to know where they are going and if needed to ask prior to doing the route. If they are still lost, as I said they are to call CIS and ask them. Blaming the passenger for giving them bad directions is not a valid excuse.

 

[44 North]

Where that part of the argument falls down is - how does the operator see both sides of the train? Do you put a full-width cab right in the middle, preventing people from passing from the front to the back half? How about if the ATO fails, and the operator needs to run the train manually?

Of course, none of it is deal-breaking, but it does make things way more complex putting a cabin in the middle. Better to leave it at the front/back and avoid them.

Good point about the ATO failing, or I guess shuffling trains around yards and whatnot. Interesting that the T1s had an option to be full width. I guess a point I didn't think about before posting was the hassle for the door operator in a quarter cab of moving from one side of the train to the other for island and side platforms. Whether in the back or middle, they gotta shoo the public up and out of the seats if in use. And if there's a passed out vagrant or someone erratic hogging the bench that certainly adds complexity to the job.

Still though a sad loss. I like the front/rear because it gives a good view of infrastructure (e.g the wyes or switches). But for kids the operators sometimes keep their doors open to chat and even let them press the horn. That's priceless and unfortunate to lose in the name of progress.

 

[steveintoronto]

^ So how did we ever get this far without them? And how are others more advanced doing it with no cab at all? Anyone heard of glass partitions? You know, like on the Flexities. Not in Canada you say? Pity...

And the operators on the Dockland Light Rail and the other Movia platforms other than the TRs....must be having accidents all the time, and their unions must not be effective if one is to believe the hype being touted by some.

Lots more models on the web:

And the DLR:

View from the front of a Docklands Light Railway train. The control desk is usually closed.
My another account (talk) - Own work (Original text: I (My another account (talk)) created this work entirely by myself.)
View from the front of Docklands Light Railway rolling stock B90, illustrating the closable control desk (normally locked) and the panoramic view available

• CC0
• FileLR B90 front.JPG
• Created: 23 September 2012

And the B90s are built by...you guessed it...BBD. And the on-board staff member closes the doors from wherever is best, front, side, back. Or in this case, on the platform when the PSA accidentally hit the button:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/59c11bb840f0b60d848fd98e/R122017_170921_Bank.pdf